Locomotive stoker



W. T. CAPPS LOQOMOTIVE STOKER Filed June 29, 1934 2 Shee'cs-Sheefl l n. .www

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ATTORNEY March 16, 1937.

March 16, 1937. w TY CAPPS LOCOMOTIVE STOKER Filed June 29', 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5&9; 5. i

INVENTOR *.B/Y/ Gvw A TTORNE Y Patented Mar. 16, 1,937

rmeitrv OFFICE f 2,074,301 LoooMo'rIvE 's'ro'KER Washington T. Capps, Baltimore, Md., assignor to The Standard Stoker Company, Inc., a corporation of Delaware Application June 29, 1934, Serial No. 733,142

2 Claims.

This invention relatesto mechanical stokers for locomotives and particularly to stokers of that type shown in my prior application, Serial No. 634,074, led September 20, 1932, wherein 5 coal or like solid fuel is conducted from a fuel bunker on the tenderto the firing opening of the locomotive by means of telescopic and jointed feeding means allowing relative movements between the elements of the feeding means on the locomotive `and tender tocompensate for relative movements of the locomotive and tender in the travel thereof. In the structure disclosed in my aforesaid application, Serial No. 634,074, the Stoker comprises a conveyor unit mounted on l5 and receiving coal from the coal bunker on the tender, an elevatorilnit mounted on the locomotive and cooperating with a distributor for delivering the coal into` the locomotive rebox through the ring opening, an intermediate or transfer unit flexibly coupled to the conveyor and elevating units for the transfer of the coal from the one to the other,-screw conveyors forming part of said units, and gearing for driving the screw conveyors. vThe present invention, is di-y rected to improvements upon the construction of st oker disclosed in said `application and others of its general type.

The primary object of the invention is to pro` vide a novel construction and arrangement of the stoker units for securing simplicity and economy of construction and arproper supply of coal to the locomotive in the event thatthe conveyor unit should become inoperative from any cause. i

the conveyor mechanism in the tender is rendered g inoperative by obstructions or other causes.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel construction and arrangement of the several units whereby the conveyor unit is disposed at one side -of the center line of the locomotive and tender to afford greater space for 55 the convenience of the fireman in shoveling coal Another object of the inventionis to provideV into the elevator unit on the stoppageiof the feed screw in the conveyor unitor when hand feeding. is necessary to augment the power feed, and whereby the transfer and elevator units are disposed inthe center line of the locomotiverandf tender, or approximately so, so that' r.a direct feed of fuel from the conveyor unit to 4the distributor may be obtained, allowinga simplified construction of parts to be employed which will operate with less'wear and tear and at the same time provide for a more efficient stoking action.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means to enable coal to be fed by hand directly from the tender to the Stoker conduit and to permit access to the transfer and delivery units for greater convenience in cleaning or unclogging the same, when clogging occurs, or inspecting or repairing the enclosed parts thereof.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel manner of connecting the conduits of the transfer and delivery Aunits to permit relative movements `thereof while securing (adequate support for said conduits. f

` A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel articulated transferunit, which is in such relationwith `associate parts ofthe stoker mechanism uthat a balanced arrangement of such parts is attained. i l d A still further object of the invention is to provide a mechanical stoker which is simple of construction, reliable and efficient in action, capable of being installed, manufactured and operated at a ,comparatively low cost, and which, in addition to the other desirable advantages set forth, Y may be conveniently and economically cleaned and kept in repair.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists of the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being had4 to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Fig. 1 is a planY View with parts shown in section of a stoker embodying my invention, showing the same in operative relation to a locomotive tender, parts of which are shown.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the stoker with parts shown in section. j

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the gearing with the gear box removed and its cover shownin elevation.

Fig. 4 is a, horizontal section through the gear box or casing showingvthe clutch in engaging position to drive al1 three'screw conveyors.

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig; 4 showing the ating alinement.

clutch disengaged to throw the screw conveyor of the conveyor unit out of action while maintaining the other screw conveyors in gear for a driving action thereof.

Fig. 6 is a section taken substantially on line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a section on line 'I-l of Fig. 6.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, of the drawings, I designates a portion of the locomotive frame, 2 the cab deck, 3 the backhead, 4 the firing opening, and 5 a portion of the rear cab wall of a locomotive, and 6 designates a portion of the tender structure, 6a a portion of the front wall thereof, and 'I the tail or slope sheet of the coal bunker thereof, while A designates the Stoker as a whole, which cornprises a conveyor or feed unit A on the tender, an elevator or delivery unit A2 on the locomotive, and a, transmission or transfer connection or unit A3 between such conveyor and elevator units.

The conveyor unit A on the tender comprises a fixed trough-shaped conduit 8 arranged beneath the shovel sheet or floor A4 of the fuel bunker or coal bin of the tender and in communication therewith through a longitudinally extending slot or opening A5 in said iioor. In this conduitl or trough 8 is arranged a helical conveyor screw 9 which feeds the fuel forward to the transfer unit A3, from which it is delivered to the elevator unit A2. In practice, the fuel discharge slot or opening A5 in the floor A4 is provided with adjustable cover plates or slides, which may be opened or closed at any point desired along the length of the opening to regulate the discharge of fuel.

The trough 8 is arranged mainly at one side of the longitudinal center of the deck or floor A4 in order that a comparatively wide space or platform portion A6 may be provided at the opposite side of the longitudinal center of the floor to afford greater room and convenience for the use of the fireman in shoveling coal for emergency manual stoking operations and to place the parts of the stoker conveyor mechanism in proper oper- The elevator or delivery unit A2, which comprises a conduit I having a conveyor screw II disposed therein, is, on the other hand, arranged in the vertical plane of the longitudinal center oraxis of the locomotive, so that the longitudinal axes of the units A' and A2 lie in different vertical planes, one displaced laterally to one side of a central vertical plane bisecting the locomotive and tender and the other axially coincident with such vertical plane.

The transfer unit A3, which comprises a conduit I2 having a conveyor screw I3 disposed therein, extends at an angle to the bisecting vertical plane between the units A' and A2 and is provided at its rear end with an offset portion I4 communicating with the side of the conveyor facing the bisecting vertical plane and formed at its rear end with an entrance-way and coupling member or connection I receiving a tubular projection I6 forming a fuel outlet and coupling member or connection at the forward end of the trough or conduit 8. The arrangement is thus such that the fuel fed forward from the conduit 8 by the conveyor screw 9 passes into the offset inlet I4 at the rear end of the intermediate conduit I2 from which it is conveyed forwardly by the feed screw I3.

The projection or coupling member I6, as shown particularly in Figs. 6 and 7, has an outer spherical surface arranged to t within the bushing sleeve or ring |60, disposed between the same and the coupling member I5, the inner surface of said bushing sleeve or ring being of spherical shape and articulately fitting over the complementary shaped spherical surface of the member I6. The outer surface of the bushing sleeve Ia is cylindrical in shape and ts within the cylindrical formation at the rear of the coupling' member I5. Thus, the parts I6, I6a form a ball and socket connection between the conduits, and the parts I6a, I5 form a sliding joint therebetween whereby a combined sliding and articulating joint connection is furnished at this point to adapt the stoker conduits as a whole to have relative backward and forward sliding movements and the conduits 8 and I2 to have relative vertical and lateral articulating movements to compensate for such movements between the locomotive and tender. In order to permit ready and convenient assemblage and disassemblage of the parts I5, 16a, and I6, the member I5 is formed in two halves or sections I5a and I5b, one of which is cast integral with the conduit I2 and the other formed as a separate removable part, said parts being flanged, as at I5c for passage of connecting bolts I5d, whereby the parts are adapted to be assembled and disassembled in an obvious manner. The bisecting line between these sections is preferably so placed, as clearly shown in Fig. 6, as to permit ready application and removal of the removable parts I5b without f interference from parts of the tender or other parts of the Stoker.

The intermediate conduit I2 is provided at its forward end with a spherical coupling portion I1 which ts within a spherical socket I8 at the lower end of the elevator conduit I0, so that an articulating joint is provided at this point in the stoker line, the portions I5-I6 and I'I-IB thus providing joints between the stoker conduits 8, I2, and I0 to adapt the same to have free relative longitudinal and universal lateral movements to compensate for al1 relative movements between the locomotive and tender in service. It will be observed that the transfer unit A3 is so arranged that the greater portion thereof is at one side f of its axis of articulation. This axis is a line joining the centers of the two ball joints.

The body portion of the elevator conduit I0 extends upwardly and forwardly at a suitable angle of inclination from its lower or inlet end through the cab deck and carries at its upper or discharge end a distributor A'I of the construction hereinafter described, whereby the fuel delivered ig l by the conveyor I I is discharged through the iir- A ing opened into the rebox of the locomotive. The lower end' of the conduit III is suitably supported from and flexibly or slidably connected to the locomotive frame, as shown at I9, and is also rigidly connected to the back sheet by suitable ties or braces Z. At its upper end the conduit I@ is provided with a flanged head or enlargement 2l which is attached at the point I9a to a iianged ring or flanged bracket members 22 fastened to the backhead. In addition to the coupling and supporting connections for the elevator unit A2 above described, the transfer Unit A3 may be partially supported from a portion 23a of the tender frame by a sliding connection, as at 23, to relieve the joint I5-IB of a part of its weight While allowing back and forth compensating movement of said conduit as previously described. Wear plates 22a, bolted or riveted to the head of the conduit I0, may be provided to protect the side walls of the firing opening from undue wear and abrasion. The construction of the connec- 20 the action of the conveyor screws I3 and I I.

Itions between the members I--I6 and I1I8 Imay further be such as to adapt the members of either connection or both toreadily separate when thev locomotive and tender are uncoupled 5 and moved apart to facilitate the disconnection of l0 the screw conveyor I3, but is driven from the same source of power. The screw conveyor I3, on the other hand, is coupled by a universal joint `24 totherear end of the screw conveyor I I and `therefore transmits driving motion thereto, the arrangement being such that the coal fed from the conduit 8 by the conveyor 9 passes through the offset inlet I4 from the conduit 8 into the conduit I2 and is continuously fed forward to the distributor through the conduits I2 and I0 by The mechanism for driving the screw conveyors comprises a driving motor 25 which transmits motion to a primary or drive shaft 2B which transmits `the driving power to drive gearing arranged in 25 a gearbox or casing 21 arranged at the rear end of the trough or conduit 8. The shaft 26 may be of telescopic type and connected by universal or `other iiexible joints to the engine and primary drive element of the gearing so that it may have the necessary expanding, contracting and flexing motions under running conditions of the tender. The gearing enclosed in the gear boX comprises a primary shaft 28 driven by the driving shaft 26, a shaft 29 for driving the screw conveyor 9, Jalshaft 30 universally jointed to a shaft 3|, extending alongside the trough 8 and universally jointed to the conveyor I3, for driving the conveyors I3 and II, a longitudinally sliding clutch shaft 32 provided with a clutch member 32' to 40 engage a clutch member 29 on the shaft 29 and normally held in clutch engaging position by a spring 33, a transmission shaft 34, intermeshing.

gears 35 and 35 on the shafts 28 and 34, interrneshing gears 36 and 36 on the shafts 34 and 32, and intermeshing gears 31 and 31 on the shafts 32 and 39, the arrangement being such that whenl shaft 32 is in clutch engagement with the shaft 29 motion will be transmitted from the motor drive shaft for driving both shafts 29 and 30 simultaneously, whereby feed motion will be transmitted to all screwv conveyors, while when shaft 32 is moved rearwardly to disengage the clutch shaft 29 will be operatively disconnected therefrom and the screw conveyor 9 will not be driven, but the gears will maintain a meshing engagementv for the driving of the shaft 30 and the screw conveyors in the transfer and elevating conduits driven thereby. Thus it will be understood that in the event of the clogging or de- `(30 rangement of the conveyor unit A', whereby the feed of coal therethrough by the conveyor 9 is arrested, the gearing may be disengaged from driving connection with said conveyor and the conveyors in the transfer and elevating units Aa and A2 operated to feed coal therethrough to the flrebox, in which operation the coal from the source of supply on the tender may be manually supplied to the working units of the stoker. In practice the ratio of the gearing in the gear box is preferably such that in the case of a twocylinder double-acting motor of approximately 500 R. P. M. the conveyor screws II and i3 will be driven at a rate of speed from fifteen to twenty-five percent faster than the screw 9, the

increased rate of speed of the conveyors I I and I3 with vrespect to that of the other conveyor 9, adapting them to be used for emergency purposes to deliver with the amount of coal being fed up by the conveyor 9 an additional amount shoveled in to the elevator conduit by the firef1 man. This is of advantage, also, where ythe coal contains a high percentage of large lumps and suicient coal can not be handled by the conveyor 9, in which case the reman may overcome the difficulty by shoveling sufficient coal to make up that required to feed the locomotive.

In order to allow hand stoking to be readily carried out when necessary the lower end of the elevator conduit is provided with an expanded,

hopper-like portion 38 normally closed by a hinged cover 39, the mouth or inlet of which hopper is arranged above the cab deck so that the fireman can have convenient access thereto. The rear end of the transfer mechanism may also be provided with an opening 40 normally closed:

by a detachable cover plate 4I which may be opened to permit access to its inlet end.

It often occurs on locomotives in passenger service, which are coaled with a high percentage of large lump coal, that in coaling the locomotive tender a large proportion of the lump coal clogs at the coal gates and at the forward end of the conveyor trough 8, making it at times very difflcult to obtain the feed of a sufficient amount of y coal for consumption through the conveyor sysl tem. My invention overcomes this difficulty, as it allows manual stoking to be used in conjunction with automatic stoking, and in a very simple manner convenient to the fireman, and provides `a mechanical Stoker of greatflexibility to suit i varying conditions of service, since, in the event of deficient feeding, or of maximum stokng being required, the amount of coal supplied to the fireboX may be augmented by hand action, while, even in the event of the conveyor 9 becoming broken or inoperative, the conveyors II and I3 may be employed in conjunction with hand feeding to furnish an ample supply of fuel to the locomotive. This is of very great advantage especially in connection with passenger locomotives, where delays must be reduced to the minimum. Y

In practice the gearing in the gear box or casing 21 is preferably enclosed in an air-tight manner, and all those bearings which tend to allow leakage are suitably packed or sealed or in the form of blind bushings or glands, so that a store of lubricant may be kept in the gear case. For the purpose of keeping this lubricant in a suitable fluid state in cold weather, a pipe connection 42 may be supplied for conducting exhaust steam from the locomotive boiler to a chamber which is formed in the cover 21a, of the gear casing 21. I may employ in practice any suitable means for operating the clutch shaft to throw the feed screw 9 into and out of action, that shown in the present instance comprising a shift lever 43 connected to the outer end of the shaft 32 and coupled by a connecting rod 44 with anv operating hand lever or other suitable operating device 44 mounted at or near the front end of the tender so that the clutch shaft may be readily and conveniently operated by the fireman.

From the foregoing description, taken in conn nection with the drawings, the construction and operation of my improved stoker will be readily understood by those versed in the art, and its advantages appreciated without an extended, further and detailed description. Suice it to say that this improved construction of Stoker makes it possible to operate high speed trains on schedule by hand stoking through the opening in the conduit l2, even in the event of derangement of the conveyor mechanism in the tender, where it most commonly occurs, so as to avoid serious delays and possible loss of revenue on de luxe trains,` as well as to ensure the supplying of an adequate amount of fuel under such conditions to the rebox to maintain a proper Working steam pressure in the locomotive under all other service conditions. The construction of the stoker itself also generally simplies and improves the construction of the Stoker mechanism so as to secure simplicity and economy of construction, maintenance, coal consumption, and reduction of smoke and a more flexible performance when difficulty arises through the primary conveyor being rendered inoperative, due to clogs, broken screws, etc., which would render other existing types of stokers useless. Practical use has shown that the stoker may be manually red through the opening 39 in the elevator casing without loss of time or material reduction in the steam gage or boiler pressure.

While the structure disclosed for purposes of exemplication is preferred, it will, of course, be understood that changes in the form, construction and arrangement of parts within the scope of the appended claims may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

It is to be noted that the improved drive mechanism, the fuel distributor and the flexible coupling of the embodiment of my invention originally described and disclosed herein have been made the subject matter of divisional applications Serial No. 117,122, Serial No. 117,123, and Serial No. 117,124, respectively, all led on the 22nd day of December, 1936.

What I claim is:-

1. In an intercoupled locomotive and tender, a stoker for transferring fuel from the tender to the locomotive comprising a conduit on the locomotive, a conduit on` the tender, a transfer conduit between the first and second named conduits, said transfer conduit at one end being exibly related with one of said conduits, the opposite end of said transfer conduit being provided with an elbow disposed at one side of the major portion of said transfer conduit, said elbow being flexibly related with the other of said conduits whereby the transfer conduit articulates when relative movement between said intercoupled vehicles occurs, the axis of articulation of said transfer conduit being disposed in a vertical plane passing through the aforesaid ends of said transfer conduit, the major portion of said transfer conduit being at one side of such vertical plane, and means for restraining downward swinging movement of the major portion of said transfer conduit about its axis of articulation.

2. In an intercoupled locomotive and tender, a Stoker for transferring fuel from the tender to the locomotive comprising a conduit on the locomotive, a conduit on the tender, a transfer conduit between the rst and second named conduits, said transfer conduit at one end being exibly related with the first named conduit, the opposite end of said transfer conduit being provided with a fuel inlet elbow disposed at one side of the major portion of said transfer conduit, said elbow being flexibly related with the second named conduit whereby the transfer conduit articulates when relative movement between said intercoupled vehicles occurs, the axis of articulation of said transfer conduit being disposed in a Vertical plane passing through the aforesaid ends of said transfer conduit, the major portion of said transfer conduit being at one side of such vertical plane, and means for restraining downward movement of the major portion of said transfer conduit about its axis of articulation.

WASHINGTON T. CAPPS. 

